Staff Photo by Cindy HepnerBridgeton Police Officers at the HOPE Academy just after noon on Tuesday.

BRIDGETON — An altercation between two female students at the HOPE Academy, apparently stemming from comments on Facebook, ended with the arrest of seven students.

At about noon on Tuesday, two female students became involved in a physical altercation when one attacked the other in the cafeteria.

School administration was able to control the situation and the Bridgeton Police Department was called to the Pearl Street location by the Bridgeton Board of Education educational enforcement officers.

Another student, who was not involved in the fight, was then detained and arrested for making comments to police officers on the scene.

While the arrest of one student was taking place, another intervened in the process. At that time, police raced to the scene which was reported as a riot, according to scanner reports.

Once order was restored, seven students had been arrested by police. Another student had been detained but was later released.

Those arrested include two 17-year-old females, two 16-year-old males, a 17-year-old male, an 18-year-old male and a 19-year-old male.

Charges against them include either rioting or failure to disperse, two students were also charged with resisting arrest and another was charged with disorderly conduct.

Bridgeton Police Chief Mark Ott said he believes the fight began with the two females and expanded from there.

Numerous teachers at the scene declined to comment. They were instructing students, who were yelling from the second floor windows, to go back inside.

Police who remained at the scene as of 12:30 p.m. were also unable to provide comment.

“I’m disheartened by the situation that occurred today,” said Superintendent Thomasina Jones.

She also contended the initial claim of a riot. “There were a few students who took advantage of the situation in a negative way,” she said.

Approximately 60 students attend the HOPE Academy (an acronym for “Helping Ourselves for a Productive Education”)

The school serves at-risk school students with disciplinary problems. It opened in 2009 in the building that formerly housed Immaculate Conception School.

A guidance counselor, social worker and two crisis intervention specialists work at the facility.

Jones vowed the students who were arrested will be punished to the fullest extent, up to and including expulsion.

If expelled, the students could either receive home instruction or be transferred out of the district.